


An Invitation

by ThistleBrows



Category: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-11-06 20:54:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11044137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThistleBrows/pseuds/ThistleBrows
Summary: An invitation to stay aboard the Nautilus invites more interactions. Scenes between Jekyll and Nemo.





	An Invitation

His jacket abandoned at the top of the hill, Henry laughed as he tumbled down the green field. It had been so long since he felt this way. Not just because he’d been cooped up in the Nautilus, or since the day Hyde was born, but since he was a child. He landed at the bottom of the hill, grinning with abandon. He didn’t care about how undignified it was or about the grass stains forming on his clothes. They’d just get ripped up later anyways.

Hyde was enjoying himself too. The sun, grass, rain, and earth felt like freedom. The thought of tormenting with Jekyll didn’t even occur to him in that moment.

Skinner, Mina, Sawyer, and Nemo watched Jekyll from atop the hill, impressed to say the least. None of them would’ve expected such a bout of gaiety from the usually restrained doctor. The alcohol Jekyll had drunk, was, to Skinner’s bemusement, indeed efficacious.

“Look at that, will ya? I’ve never seen the bloke so happy,” Skinner remarked.

“Yes,” Nemo mused, “We’ve all of late needed the benefit of shore leave.”

“Well I hope he enjoys it while it lasts. It took the last of my brandy to get him into that state. I’d regret giving it to him if he hadn’t needed it so bad, the poor bastard,” Skinner said.

Mina raised an eyebrow. Nemo looked at Skinner. “You mean he’s merely drunk?”

“Well, just a little. He looked like he needed it,” Skinner said defensively.

Nemo wasn’t paying attention to Skinner’s guilty conscious. He looked back toward Jekyll down in the field. Sawyer saw Nemo’s brow furrow. The other League members watched as Nemo began to make his way down the hill.

“What? I thought it would help him!” Skinner called toward Nemo’s retreating back.

Jekyll, in the meantime, had taken to staring up at the sky.

_Look at it Edward, have you ever seen anything so grand? In London you don’t see days like this._

Edward grunted,  _You should leave the drinking to me._

Not bothered in the slightest, Henry could tell Edward was enjoying himself too.

Edward turned his head,  _Look who’s coming._

Edward, less enraptured with the clouds, had been first to notice Nemo approaching. Nothing if not consistent, Nemo’s expression belied nothing. His upright and dignified gait, equally unreadable.

Reaching down a hand, Nemo entreated Henry, “Come, Doctor. Walk with me.”

Henry, still smiling, took the hand firmly and rose.

The uninhabited island was small, but still large enough for Nemo to steer Henry away from the others. Nemo reasoned that while Henry may be feeling well now, he later might later find his lack of dignity to be mortifying.

“Please, Doctor,” Nemo offered Jekyll a drink of water from a flask he carries.

Henry took a gulp and breathed, “This is wonderful isn’t it, Captain?” Henry was staring up at the trees and sky.

He offered the flask back, but Nemo refused it. Edward grunted, smug at his own deductions about this gesture.

“Yes. My crew and I often use this island as a stopover. Although I am accustomed to life submersed, men among my crew will still wish to see land time and again.”

The two of them began to walk in silence for some time. They listened to the birds and the rustling of leaves as the wind gently blew, and the waves crashed against the nearby shore. Nemo focused on his breathing, the scent of the water nearby, and the push and pull of the ocean on his senses. It didn’t take long for him to settle his nerves. He thought about what the past several days with the ersatz League meant for him, and the future. Nemo looked over at Henry. With the increased time, drinks of water, and distance, Henry had regained a semblance of levelheadedness.

Sensing this, Nemo took a breath, “Doctor, although I’ve yet to formally discuss this with the League, I want you to know that I will be extending an invitation for you and the other members to remain on the _Nautilus_ for an indefinite period of time. To you in particular, I offer the _Nautilus_ to you as a permanent home, as it has been for me.”

Henry looked at Nemo.

 _Another offer?_ Edward remarked. He saw now why Nemo had wanted them to sober up. Henry’s eyes flicked to his side and he processed Edward’s remark, only just realizing that the Captain had come over to him earlier with this in mind. He himself, didn’t know what to say.

“As the pardon you were offered was not genuine, you may find it hard to rejoin society. In this respect, I have personal experience. My not-so laudable past, if you recall?” Nemo says pointedly.

Henry briefly thought this was a reminder of Henry's rudeness a few days ago, but instead sees only a knowing and bemused expression on Nemo’s face. Regardless, he felt guilty about his conduct the night Captain Nemo had reprimanded him for his lack of control. Not knowing what to do with himself, Henry found that he already had his watch out in his hand. Looking down at it, he saw that the hands were now frozen to the time at which he’d jumped into water to save the sinking ship. That felt like a long time ago to him. The hands provided him no distraction now.

Was this why Nemo was extending the offer on such a personal level to him? That day had certainly been a turning point for Henry. For the first time, he felt like he had been of some good to others, and what more, through Edward. He didn’t know what it meant, but he knew Edward had liked it too. It had been a new experience for both of them.

Henry realized that Edward had been silent. He sensed that Edward was still paying attention, but choosing to say nothing. He was pensive. Henry looked at his reflection on the inside of his watch lid, but Edward wasn’t paying attention to him. Another unusual moment. Henry was starting to feel like the basic tenets of his world had subtly shifted without his noticing.

“Doctor,” Nemo said. Nemo had been watching the doctor. He watched as Henry had been surprised to find himself holding his watch. He had to have been looking for something inside it, only to become even more lost.

Henry looked back up. His mouth opened to speak, but Nemo had seen enough and held his hand up.

“Please, doctor. I do not expect an answer this minute. I’ve asked this in advance of my formal offer, so you have even more time than what I already plan to give.”

Henry could only give a quick nod in return.

“I must go now to prepare the ship. We’ll be disembarking in a few minutes,” Nemo added. With that, he left Henry.

 _So?_ Henry asked.

_So what?_

This response was even more puzzling. He expected that Edward would have an immediate reaction, or at the very least a strong opinion one way or the other. He hadn’t just been expecting it, he’d been ready for it, so now Henry didn’t know what to do with such a noncommittal response.

_Do you want to live on the Nautilus? We haven’t much else place to go._

Edward chuckled to himself. _Asking my opinion now, Henry?_

Henry waited for the next half of the insult, but it didn’t come. Edward had turned away from him again. Henry didn’t have time to wonder over Edward’s cagey responses before the sound of a horn interrupted his thoughts. Almost exasperated, he headed back to board the ship.

 -

At dinner Mina spent her time observing the members of the League. Having already hunted and eaten during their stop on the island, and wholly uninterested in the meal provided, she fell into her established tradition of up close and personal people watching.

Well, with the occasional exception of Mr. Skinner, who sometimes neglected to fully cover the neck area, giving Mina an all _too_ personal view of his dinner. Tonight was one such night, so she turned her attention elsewhere. Mr. Sawyer was digging into his meal with gusto, and she noted, a hint of pride. The meat came from the game he’d hunted on the island, small as they were. Nemo himself had opted for the fish, as he never ate food that was not provided for by the ocean, it seemed. His posture and manners were as poised as her own. She sensed shifting emotions within him, but his face remained unchanged, a contradiction appropriate for the sea itself.

Henry wasn’t eating much. This wasn’t a particularly uncommon occurrence. He often ate little, and what he did, was always quite plain and meager. The doctor was staring at his reflection in the silver teapot near him. With the intensity of his gaze, she’d almost say he was interrogating it. Agitated and sweating a little, he had clearly come down from his earlier high. His anxious fidgeting, while something to which she and the others were accustomed, concerned her. Conspicuously absent was any self-conscious attempts on the doctor’s part to curb his movements. He’d not averted his gaze once from the teapot. She even thought she saw him shake his head once or twice.

Mina was still unsure to what degree the agitation was part of the nature of the man himself, and what part was man’s struggle with the beast, Hyde. She wondered if tonight’s agitation had anything to do with what he had discussed with Nemo.

She was drawn out of her thoughts when Henry stood up, the chair jumping back as he did so. He mumbled an excuse and hurried out. Her theory was confirmed when a few minutes later, Nemo excused himself as well.

-

Henry’s footsteps echoed furiously down the hallway, as he argued with Edward.

 _You’re spineless, afraid of everything, can’t make the simplest of decisions! A real man could look Nemo in the eye, and you can’t even do that, let alone give him an answer,_ Edward accused. _You’d think the answer would be quite easy for someone who spends his whole life in hiding._

 _Hiding because of you, Edward,_ Henry reminded him, eyes forward and away from the windows. _This is your doing, this is what you’ve made me into._

 _I cannot be anything but that which I was made to be, and I am made of you, Henry. And you_ are me. _Call yourself the good doctor, if that’s what makes you feel better, but don’t try to lie to_ me _. To yourself. To us. You’ll only fail, in the end. You have no one to blame but yourself._

 _“Leave me alone!”_ Henry hissed.

 _You worm, Henry. And you_ are _alone._ Edward spat. Henry staggered as Edward assaulted him with an agonizing migraine. He put his hand out to catch himself and fell against the wall, ears pounding over the sound of Edward’s voice. _Keep pissing our lives away Henry, knowing that every moment you dither about is another moment wasted. Leave the Nautilus and we’ll go back to Paris. Oh, I’ll have so much fun continuing where we left off. Stay on the Nautilus and I’ll have fun making the acquaintance of all Nemo’s crew._

 _“_ No, I won’t allow it! Stop!” Henry cried aloud. “Stop, stop,” he repeated, more to himself than to Edward, whose laughter could still be faintly heard over the pounding migraine.

The truth of the matter was, Henry wanted to accept Nemo’s offer, but felt there was no way he could manage Edward in such an environment, let alone impose such complications on Nemo. Edward snorted at the thought of Henry "managing" him. But what would happen if Edward were to get loose? _No, what would happen were_ I _to release Edward?_ Henry thought. He hated to admit it, but Edward would never get out in the first place, if not for the small part of Henry, no matter how hard he pushed it down, which longed to drink the elixir. He would be responsible for the damage to Nemo, his ship, his crew. Call it cowardice or weakness, but Henry couldn’t bring himself to put at risk Nemo, his home, and crew. He couldn’t make himself responsible for more destruction. Yet, he was unsure of where he could go where such fate would not follow. Edward was right, it didn’t matter where Henry went, he would always endanger those around him.

Approaching footsteps forced Henry to stand and maintain at least semblance of composure.

“A familiar situation, doctor,” Nemo noted as the two stood at opposite ends of the hall.

“Indeed,” Henry said, looking down, doing his best to focus on Nemo’s words over the throbbing in his head.

“But one which I hope we can steer along a different path. Please, Doctor, won’t you join me in the library? I feel we have something to discuss- unless you are unwell?” Nemo noticed Henry rubbing the side of his head.

“No, I’m fine. Of course I’ll join you,” Henry hastened to respond, not wanting to forget his manners or turn the man down. Now was his chance to politely decline Nemo’s offer. He could not bring himself to accept it. He could not do that to Nemo, not on his account. He didn’t deserve such treatment.

Once in the library, the two sat down opposite each other by the mantel. Nemo had the relaxed but firm posture of one at home and in control. Henry sat straight, but on the edge of his seat.

Looking up from his folded hands, Henry began, “Captain, regarding your offer this morning. I am extremely humbled. You are right that I remain a fugitive, however, despite these circumstances, I cannot accept your offer of sanctuary. Any sanctuary which you could offer me, I fear I would render a hostile zone,” Henry took a deep breath. “It is my turn to confess that you were quite right in what you said to me that night. My control over Edward is such that I do not trust that I could restrain him were I to live aboard the _Nautilus._ I am bound by my limitations. _”_

“I see, doctor. It is unfortunate,” Nemo ventured, “that you cannot gain mastery over Edward, or come to some accord with him.”

 _Weak and cowardly, Henry,_ Edward’s voice commented lazily. _To deny yourself what you want when it’s offered up to you on a silver platter._

Henry ignored him, stands up, and walks over to the mantel. “Captain, I must confess. At this very moment, Edward is talking to me.” His back to Nemo, Henry looked into the mirror on the mantel but avoided Edward’s eyes. With a wavering voice, he continued, “And the migraine which plagues me at this moment is his doing as well.”

At this Henry felt himself cracking. He could not keep this up. Edward laughed, amused at this moment of undignified desperation. Henry bent over and gripped his head in his hand, the other hand clutching at the mantel.

“I can’t-“ Henry couldn’t speak. He struggled to breathe evenly.

Nemo stood up, and placing a hand on his shoulder, led Henry back to the chair.

“Doctor,” Nemo said softly, “although I am unsure as to what ways I could be an effective aid. Perhaps if you were to share of me the nature of your joining with Mr. Hyde. I find one’s personal demons are burdens better carried with a friend than alone.”

Henry looked at Nemo. He had not seen such tenderness in the captain save once before, when Ishmael died in both their arms. He understood Nemo’s reaching out to him. Henry alone had been there with Nemo the first mate’s passing. In that moment, they had carried the burden of remembering and honoring Ishmael’s final moments and sacrifice.

“Edward, he- I don’t just hear him. I can see him. Everywhere. In anything reflective. Where my reflection would normally stand, am I greeted with his face.” Henry stared at the pocket containing his watch. Nemo looked at the mantel mirror Henry had been standing at a minute ago. To never see one’s own countenance again, but instead regard that of a demon bent on tormenting oneself…

“And the migraine, doctor, is also something which Edward can willfully create?”

“Yes,” Henry gasped, as said migraine rolled through him. “He particularly likes the migraines. That night we bumped into each other, however, he was choking me, hoping to force my cooperation to drink the elixir. It’s a simple matter for Edward to think up painful ways to coerce me into doing, or not doing, what he wishes. I may control the body in this state, but his influence upon it has only grown stronger with time. My hearing, my vision- all of these things he can manipulate with varying degrees of success. My body is not my own. It hasn’t been for some time.”

Now holding himself, eyes closed, Henry at least felt a little better, emotionally. He felt terribly ashamed and humiliated at his lack of control, his lack of dignity, but he was to the point of such wretchedness, that the slight reprieve the confession gave him almost made it worth it. Edward’s laughter felt distant from him.

Henry didn’t know it, but Nemo was regarding him intensely, new considerations weighing in his mind. Nemo had not realized to what extent the man and beast were bound together, mostly to the detriment, Nemo noted, of the man. Therefore, the time spent on the island earlier that day was, although in part a result of Skinner’s _generosity_ , a rare moment in which the doctor seemed to have been carefree. Nemo wasn’t sure how long until the next time he’d witness such an event would be.

Finally, Nemo spoke, “Come doctor, I will lead you to your rooms. It is essential that you rest and try to recover from your migraine.”

Henry, hardly in a state to object, felt Nemo pull him up and support him. He felt himself being led out into the hallway.

Taking deep breaths, Henry focuses on the rhythm of their steps against the hardwood floor. He was too drained to feel pathetic about how he clung to the Captain. It had been such a long time since he’d touched another person. The warmth was welcoming.

Nemo’s voice resonates from his chest into Henry’s ear,

“Doctor, I profess to live in solitude under the waves in a self contained and self-sufficient vessel. But it is not so. My crew and I all live together, sustaining one another. One man, no matter how strong, cannot stand alone. You’ve been carrying this burden alone since the beginning, but it does not have to be so any longer.”

Only half-aware, Henry mumbles, “…can’t endanger those around me.”

“Not to worry, Doctor. The Nautilus provides home to all. We will find a solution.”

Nemo brought Henry to his room and laid him on the bed. At this point, Henry had fallen asleep. Or passed out.

Nemo observed the doctor’s room. It was spartan and neatly arranged, save for the scattering of papers over his desk. He could see Henry’s identical articles of clothing hung and lined up. Nemo briefly wondered how often Henry had to acquire new clothing, considering the frequency of his transformations.

When he had first met Edward, Nemo could not deny feeling fearful. Here was a beast who was the distorted reflection of man. It wasn’t just his great size, his brutish face, or great speed and strength, but the unpredictability. An unsettling feeling had come over Nemo when listening to Edward speak poetically about home and sorrows as sweet as rare wines. And in an instant, he had spurred into violence a moment later, flinging his chains at Sawyer (and, mind, taking a chunk out of the Nautilus wall). Nemo shivered at the memory.

And the transformation was even more disturbing. Nemo wrinkled his face, imagining how painful it must’ve been. The screaming, the sound of bones, cartilage and muscles tearing- it all rang clearly in his mind.

Nemo sighed, exhausted. All of this was for another day. Yes, perhaps tomorrow. Tomorrow he would begin to ask the doctor more about the nature of duality. Giving a last glance toward the doctor, Nemo shut the door and departed.

Every night before bed, Nemo walked the main halls of the Nautilus. By this time, only the skeleton crew maintained essential systems. For the most part, he was alone. Among the halls, Nemo could collect his thoughts and recenter himself. In a way, the night walks helped him reattune himself to the thrummings of his vessel.

When he finally returned to his room, he prayed, prepared for bed, looked to the picture on his wall, and then went to asleep.

-

The next morning, Nemo was not surprised to find the doctor absent from breakfast. Breakfasts, lunches, and even some dinners, were never an elaborate thing for the League. Mina did not attend for obvious reasons, except for the occasional dinner where she merely observed and conversed, and others of the League stopped in at various times throughout the morning to acquire coffee or take back small snacks to their respective rooms. It was only Henry who always felt the need to sit down at the table as if it were a formal meal. It was not uncommon, however, for Henry to be absent from breakfasts altogether, so it was no surprise that he was absent today. Nemo considered for the first time, that every breakfast that the doctor missed may be a result of nightly struggles against Edward.

That was certainly the cause of the few times the doctor had abruptly left the table, with a hasty excuse. Nobody paid it much mind- each League member had their own demons and personal struggles to contend with. Each left the other to their own. Perhaps it was time that this individualized and aloof attitude be put aside.

Resolving to talk with the doctor at a later point, Nemo turned his attentions to his duties- and his breakfast.

It was many hours later since breakfast that Nemo spotted Henry. Nemo hadn’t wanted to disturb him, but this was the second time he had passed the doctor sitting in the lounge whilst on his way to attend other matters. The first time was five hours ago, and he noticed that Henry hadn’t budged an inch since then. He was still sitting ramrod straight in the chair, staring ahead at the bookcase.

Nemo ventured into the room. It seems the time to talk would be now.

“Doctor? If I’m not disturbing you…”

Henry turned around and smiled politely. He looked weary, but that was only to be expected, Nemo supposed.

“Of course not, Captain. I was merely talking with Edward.” Henry’s eyes flicked to a nearby mirror, at this, before refocusing on the Captain.

“My apologies for any interruption, doctor.”

“No, none at all. Edward has gone to sleep now. He, ah,” Henry smiled to himself, “grew bored of yelling.”

Nemo’s curiosity as to the man’s dual nature gave way to concern. Henry was hasty to reassure him.

“It was for no particular reason. Edward is often and easily bored, and so takes to distracting himself with whatever’s at hand. Which is to say, usually me,” Henry finished sheepishly.

“And is that what Mr. Hyde has been doing for the last few hours?”

Henry shifted uncomfortably, having realized that Nemo must know how long he’d been sitting in the lounge.

“Yes, well. No. Earlier on, Edward got a little too _enthusiastic_ in his distractions, shall we say, and I passed out for some time. I’m not exactly sure, though it seems to have been a couple hours. It’s rather embarrassing, I suppose, admitting to this. But considering recent events, I guess I have nothing left to hide…” Henry trailed off. What he really meant, was that he had no dignity left to preserve, after the way he had broke down last night in front of the Captain. He pushed this thought aside.

There was a moment of awkwardness between the two men before Henry gathered himself to speak up.

“Captain, thank you for last night. I- haven’t really discussed Edward with anyone, and so I find it difficult express the situation I find myself in. Speaking it aloud to you has solidified the thoughts in my mind.”

Nemo looked at him in earnest, “I’m glad for it, doctor. And we will continue this. You worry about endangering those around you, but there is nowhere safer for you to be, and for the world to have you be, than here. And what’s more,” Nemo sat down in a chair across from Henry, and leaned toward him, “I believe I can help you. I don’t pretend to have the solution or a cure for your condition, but I know that what you described to me last night -seeing and hearing imaginary torments which are laid before you by a demon- this is something I have experienced.”

Henry met his gaze, eyes curious but sympathetic, “You have?”

Nemo took a deep breath, “I don’t suppose, doctor, that you know of me or my history?”

Henry shook his head.

Nemo settled into his chair, and told Henry about his former life, how he came to live under the ocean, forswearing, up until the events of the League, from ever walking on land again, let alone amongst those serving the British Empire.

“And so, my family are lost to me, doctor. They visit me now only in dreams. But at the time when they died, when they were killed, I would see them. And hear them. They cried out to me, doctor, to save them. And I... could not,” Nemo stopped for a moment to even his breathing and gather himself. Nemo felt tired. And he felt _old._ Much older than he really was.

Henry’s heart went out to the man. He felt indignant and enraged at the injustices brought upon the other man, especially knowing it was the doings of the Empire. Henry realized how much the Captain had done for the League, in agreeing to aid them. He felt humbled, that the Captain had invited him to stay. And he felt deeply saddened for the Captain’s loss. He wanted very much to comfort the Captain some way. It could never make up for what had been done to the man, but it was all Henry could give.

“Captain, I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine losing family in such a way. I’m even more honored and humbled now, that you would extend your hand to me in the way that you have.”

The moment he said this, Henry kicked himself mentally for making this moment of the captains’ grief about himself. But this seemed to pull Nemo out of his thoughts, and before Henry could even begin to fathom an apology, Nemo spoke.

“Thank you, doctor. It was your estrangement and exile from British society that first brought to my mind that you too, had become no friend to the Empire. In that we are alike, and in the Nautilus, I decided you would be able to find a home amongst like men.”

The importance of the conversation weighed on Henry. This was one of the few times in years he had spoken so freely, and to have Nemo, someone whom he had only just recently met, speak so honestly of his own past, spurred Henry on to speak further.

“You are more right than you realize, Captain,” Henry began, “I have always striven to do what’s proper of a gentleman. It’s never come easy to me. The constant internal conflict I felt is what led me to my initial experiments. Now looking back, I think my motives were misguided. It wasn’t me that was wrong, but our values and the pressures we lay upon people. Yes, I think that’s it.”

He nodded to himself. It was the first time he had put those thoughts to words, and as he spoke them, realized them to be truer than any of his old theories about the duality of man. He was not a man of two natures, so much as a man of one nature to which society did not take a total liking. Perhaps, had he grown up somewhere else, things would have been different. As for what this meant regarding the nature of Edward, he did not know anymore.

Nemo looked at him. “That’s a very insightful assessment, doctor. I myself came to the same conclusion, and have since freed myself from the strictures of society. I avail myself to all that the sea has to offer, namely, freedom. This is the freedom I offer you.”

“Yes,” Henry blurted out before thinking.

“I mean, thank you, Captain. For opening your home to me. And for being open.”

Nemo nodded. The two sat momentarily in silence, meeting each other's eyes. There was a mutual acknowledgement of the other, what had just been shared, and what it represented. Between them was a certain connection, brought about by each other's extraordinary fates.

Nemo broke the silence first, “I must leave you for now, doctor. There is the ship to attend to, and preparations to make. I will see you again tonight.”

“Of course,” Henry gave a nod of the head, stood up, and held his hands behind his back.

There was a smile shared between them and then Nemo left.

Henry took a deep breath. He felt like he was about to embark on a whole new adventure. He felt so light and unburdened. Almost giddy, in fact, at the thought of being free of society, whatever that truly entailed. He smiled to himself.

 _About time you saw it my way,_ Edward commented.

Henry stopped. It took a couple moments of consideration and then, _Good Lord, Edward is right_. Maybe if Henry had cared a little less about social standards and playing the good pillar of society, he wouldn’t have felt so stifled all his life. And now that he’s thrown it off, he actually felt…alive. At this word, Henry looked at Edward.

Edward leaned back smugly, an eyebrow raised. He didn’t have to say anything else.

It would be a new beginning.


End file.
